Two nights ago my fiancée and I discovered that the carpet in the upstairs office was a little damp. After a little investigating, we discovered that the wall was soft! We tore down the drywall, removed the soaking wet insulation, and realized that our roof was leaking. After a restless night, I woke up the next day, called up three contractors, and eventually had some repairs done. The culprit appeared to be the flashing around the chimney and the tin covering on the chimney. The final bill was $675 (though I worked out something with the contractor where I’d get that rebated back on a full blown roof replacement, which I know I’ll need) and a weight off our shoulders. I still need to replace the insulation, drywall, and paint that office… maybe the painting will happen after the honeymoon. (I’m also a little hesitant to put everything back up in case our repairs didn’t solve the problem…)

Ugh…

On a happier note, I discovered a cool site called FreeRice.com through BzzAgent. I’m a BzzAgent, which means I occasionally get free products, give them away to my friends, and write about their reactions to them (if you want to join, email me). I’ve given away gum, yogurt, etc. etc. Anyway, one part of the site involves talking about cool websites that have tried to improve their online exposure through BzzAgent. Until today I hadn’t written anything about any of them because they didn’t really appeal to me, until FreeRice.com. You answer multiple choice vocabulary questions and they donate 20 grains of rice for each correct answer. You don’t sign up for anything, they don’t send you anything, and they donated 149,541,380 grains of rice donated yesterday (Valentine’s Day). Give it a whirl, maybe you’ll learn a few words and someone gets a bowl of rice.

Like this article? Get all the latest articles sent to your email for free every day. Enter your email address and click "Subscribe." Your email will only be used for this daily subscription and you can unsubscribe anytime.

2 Responses to “I Had A Leak In My Roof!”

Good luck on getting the roof fixed. It was nice of the contractor to work out a deal on a complete roof replacement.

FWIW> Leaky roofs are the primary cause of the disrepair and eventual run-down of many inner city / poor neighborhoods. In general, the order of events is as follows: the roof starts to leak and the owner/family lacks the funds to properly fix it. At first, band-aid solutions work (tarps, etc). Ultimately, though, these quick-fixes lack the rigor necessary to handle harsh weather, and themselves become subject to leaks (or maybe just blow right off). In townhome neighborhoods, these leaks tend to spread to adjacent houses, and eventually, cause the whole block to fall into disrepair.

Anyhow, it’s imperative to keep your roof in good repair throughout the life of the house. After all, a house is all about “having a roof over your head.”

Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page.Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.